Midterm elections set stage for series of historic firsts

The word "first" is probably going to come up a lot on Tuesday.The House of Representatives is expect...

Posted: Nov. 6, 2018 6:28 AM

Updated: Nov. 6, 2018 2:15 PM

Posted By: By Eli Watkins, CNN

The word "first" is probably going to come up a lot on Tuesday.

The House of Representatives is expected to see its first female Native American member. One way or another, Arizona will elect its first female senator. And Nevada might become the first state to have a Legislature made up of a majority of women.

Below is a list of some of the most prominent firsts that could happen this fall:

African-American governors

A trio of Democratic gubernatorial candidates are each vying to be the first black person to take the governor's mansion in their respective states.

Former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams would be Georgia's first African-American governor and first female governor. Moreover, she would be the nation's first black female governor, and she is already the first African-American woman to hold a major party's gubernatorial nomination.

Former NAACP leader Ben Jealous is mounting a bid to unseat Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan. If Jealous pulls off an upset to defeat Hogan, he would become that state's first African-American governor.

LGBT governors

Oregon Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, who identifies as bisexual, is already the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor. Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevy came out as gay before he stepped down from office in the early 2000s. That in mind, a few races elsewhere could lead to firsts of their own.

Elsewhere this cycle, Vermont Democrat Christine Hallquist has already made history as the first major-party transgender nominee for governor, and if she wins, she would be the nation's first transgender governor and one of the very few transgender officeholders around the country.

Senate

A few hard-fought and closely watched races in traditionally red states are poised to increase female representation in the Senate.

As mentioned above, Arizona is guaranteed to elect its first female senator. Following GOP Sen. Jeff Flake's decision last year not to seek re-election, Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema is facing off against GOP Rep. Martha McSally.

Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar would be the nation's first Muslim women in Congress. Tlaib is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants and essentially secured the seat by winning the Democratic primary earlier this year. Omar also would become the first Somali-American member of Congress.

Texas Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones would be the first Filipina-American in Congress, and California Republican Young Kim would be the chamber's first female Korean-American.